Football in Norway
Football is the most popular sport in Norway in terms of active membership (by television viewership football comes third, behind biathlon and cross-country skiing).[1] The Football Association of Norway was founded in 1902 and the first international match was played in 1908. There are 1,822 registered football clubs and about 25,000 teams. There are 393,801 (104,597 of them are girls/women) registered football players,[2] which means that 8.5% of the population play organized football.[3][4]
Contents
History
The first football team in Norway was probably started by a buekorps in Bergen, Nygaards Bataljon, in 1883.[5] In 1885 the first Norwegian club however, Idrætsforeningen Odd, was founded in Skien. The footballing interest was very low, and was put on ice after a few months. However, the club Odd Grenland started up with football again in 1894, and are now Norway’s oldest football club. The Football Association of Norway (the NFF), was founded in 1902, and quickly established a cup competition. After the NFF joined FIFA in 1908, Norway had its first ever international match, away against Sweden in Gothenburg; despite Norway taking the lead after a mere 45 seconds, Sweden went on to win 11-3. In 1911 Norway hosted its first international in Oslo, again against Sweden; this time Norway lost 4-0. In 1912 the Norwegian national football team attended the Olympic Games, and were knocked out after losing to Denmark and Austria 7-0 and 1-0 respectively. The NFF hosted the FIFA congress in Oslo in 1914, where a national league was established with six teams competed for the title Drafn, Frigg, Kvik/Halden, Larvik Turn, Mercantile and Odd. Drafn from Drammen went on to be the first league winners. The Norwegian national men’s team won their only medal at an international championship in 1936 at the Germany Olympic Games. In the relatively successful tournament Norway beat Turkey and hosts Germany 4-0 and 2-0 respectively, losing to Italy in the semi-final, then beating Poland 3-2 in the third-place play-off to take the bronze medal. The team is known in Norway as "Bronselaget" meaning the Bronze team.
League system
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The current national league system administered by the football association is organised as 1-1-4-12, where Tippeligaen is the highest Norwegian level and 1. Divisjon the second highest, followed by four third level (2. Divisjon) and 12 fourth level (3. Divisjon).
| Division | Promotion | Relegation |
|---|---|---|
| Tippeligaen | N/A | 15th, 16th |
| 1. Divisjon | Winner, runner-up | 13th, 14th, 15th, 16th |
| 2. Divisjon | Winners in four groups | 14th, 15th, 16th in four groups |
| 3. Divisjon | Winners in twelve groups | 14th, 15th, 16th in twelve groups |
From the 2011-season on, there will be no play-off matches for promotion to Tippeligaen. The play-off matches between Norwegian Third Division winners is also defunct, due to the reduction from 24 to 12 groups.
| Level | League(s)/Division(s) | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tippeligaen 16 clubs |
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| 2 | 1. Divisjon 16 clubs |
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| 3 | 2. Divisjon Group 1 14 clubs |
2. Divisjon Group 2 14 clubs |
2. Divisjon Group 3 14 clubs |
2. Divisjon Group 4 14 clubs |
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| 4 | 3. Divisjon Group 1 14 clubs |
3. Divisjon Group 2 14 clubs |
3. Divisjon Group 3 14 clubs |
3. Divisjon Group 4 14 clubs |
3. Divisjon Group 5 14 clubs |
3. Divisjon Group 6 14 clubs |
3. Divisjon Group 7 14 clubs |
3. Divisjon Group 8 14 clubs |
3. Divisjon Group 9 14 clubs |
3. Divisjon Group 10 14 clubs |
3. Divisjon Group 11 12 clubs |
3. Divisjon Group 12 12 clubs |
| 5–9 | 4. Divisjon through 8. Divisjon are regional divisions administered by the various regional football associations. | |||||||||||
Cup system
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European competitions
UEFA Champions League
The following teams have qualified for elimination rounds in the UEFA Champions League.
- Rosenborg BK (1996-97 - Quarter-finals)
- Molde FK (1999-00 - Group stage)
Rosenborg played in the Champions League on 10 further occasions.
National team
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Women's national team
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See also
Bibliography
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